Pakistan - Day 8

Everyone knows in Canada, or at least the Pakistani-Canadians, that one advantage of travelling to Pakistan is the shopping. Our cousin, promised me Saturday night that he would wake up early to take me shopping. My husband had no urge to leave the house nor spend money. Typical. But I had saved up for this moment. A part of me was nervous because no matter how safe someone told me a location was, I would not believe it. I was told to come visit Pakistan because everything was safe! I realized after my arrival, it was only a ruse to get us to come. After 17 years, I knew my relatives would be sorely disappointed if I elected not to come if they told me the truth. It was selfish on their part but selfish for me too. We all had inner motives to see one another but at the end of the day, the experience, good or bad, would be etched in our memory forever.

I woke up, showered, ate breakfast and waited for our cousin in the family room at 10am. He said he would be ready by then to drive me into town. 10am came and went. 11am came and went. I looked from the television to the clock. It was now 1pm. Now in Pakistan, when someone gives you a time, don't take their word for it. Just add about three hours to get the RIGHT time. The same goes for Pakistanis living in Canada. If you tell them to come at 6pm, they will ring your doorbell at 8pm. Some things never change.

He awoke and we were out the door by 2:30pm. I took all three girls because our first item on the agenda was shoe shopping. As we walked into the BATA shoe store, the place was nearly empty. He explained that many did not shop in the middle of the day when the heat was at its worst. Good. I had the shop to myself. Two hours and fifteen pairs of shoes later, we walked out and hit a jewellery store. The girls selected artificial earrings, bracelets and necklaces. Each time they selected something of their choice, they looked at me. I would nod and they would smile sheepishly. With items costing less than $5 (that would normally cost $50 in Canada) I did not attempt to deter their shopping. I still felt guilty. The vacation I promised to them was more than they could handle. It started out as a trip for them to rediscover their roots, their culture, relatives and heritage. Instead, it was a trip that opened up their eyes to things that they never imagined and brought fear into their hearts.

But here we were, in the thick of things and we had to grin and bear it for two more weeks. I needed the girls to debrief and have some fun. Every trip we made shopping (and there were only a few) I took from the country but gave back. I would normally spend an equivalent of $50 giving money to the poor despite our cousin's protests. At one point, I wondered if he rather me give him the money. $50 amounted to 5000 rupees -- consider that like $5000 to the natives.

So the excel spreadsheet the hubby created for me before we left for Pakistan, mysteriously went missing. Budget? Squeeze me? What budget?

If I was going to get out of this country alive, I better pump some money into their lagging economy and damn well look good leaving!